


Voted Most Likely To Run Away With You

by meracanaries



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-07 17:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20979482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meracanaries/pseuds/meracanaries
Summary: They just won their second World Cup in a row, Kelley should be happy and she is except for one little thing.Alex on the other hand is one hundred percent happy with her life, or at least that's what Kelley always thought.





	1. You don‘t need to save me (but would you run away with me?)

They won the World Cup for the second time in a row and Kelley should be happy, she is happy. 

However she‘s also standing in the middle of a bar, chugging a beer while her head is absolutely throbbing from the concussion that she sustained during the finale, all but ignoring the fact that her girlfriend wanted to dance for over two hours, repeatedly telling her that she isn‘t in the mood due to her headache. 

She doesn‘t need to know that that‘s not the true reason why Kelley isn‘t in the mood to dance with her. 

The thing is, Kelley is happy with her girlfriend but there‘s still that significantly large part of her that‘s longing for someone else, someone who‘s currently dancing on top of the bar with Christen. 

Alex looks blissfully happy, throwing her head back laughing, steading herself by holding onto Christen‘s arm who‘s smiling just as widely, Tobin cuddled against her back while swaying slightly. 

Kelley smiles at the sight of her best friends having fun together, the smile slowly fading when she spots Servando who’s trying to get Alex down from the bar. 

"Kel, I really want to dance." Her girlfriend says wrapping her arm around Kelley’s shoulder, Kelley quickly shaking her off.   
She felt a bit bad about it, she didn’t deserve that kind of treatment but she really, really wasn’t in the mood to dance right now and she had said so several times. 

"Not now." She said voice gentle but her patience was wavering.   
Her girlfriend was frowning which was never a good sign and Kelley could already sense the question before it was spoken.

"Then can we at least talk for a minute, outside?" Kelley shrugs her shoulders, it doesn’t really feel like she has a say in this and she probably doesn’t deserve to have one, so she just follows after her girlfriend, who stops as soon as both of them are out of the overstuffed club.

It’s still awfully hot outside despite the fact that it’s the middle of the night and Kelley feels her clothes sticking to her body.

"This isn’t working anymore." Kelley stares back at her unable to say anything, thoughts rushing through her mind.

"Wh.. What are you saying? What do you mean this isn’t working?" She asks after a few moments of heavy silence have passed between them. 

"I can’t do this anymore, Kelley. Do you think I didn’t notice the way you look at her?" Kelley sighs because she knows that her girlfriend is right, or rather ex-girlfriend judging from the direction the conversation is heading into. 

"I’m sorry." Kelley whispers and she just nods her head before replying. 

"I know that you are. It’s always been her though, right?"   
Kelley nods her head because it’s true, from the moment that they met until now, it has always been Alex for her and she had been foolish to think that this was going to change. 

"I’m so sorry." She whispers again, tears falling from her eyes. 

"It’s alright, I knew what I was getting into the second that I met her. I hope that you can find your happiness, you deserve it." She says before she leans down and gives Kelley a peck on her forehead and then walks away.

Kelley sits down on the curbside, staring straight ahead. 

She guessed that this was just one more of her failed relationships that ended because of her feelings for someone else.

"What are you doing out here?" Kelley doesn’t have to look up to know that it’s Alex, she just sits down next to her, body turned so that she’s facing Kelley. 

"What are you doing out here?" Kelley asked back and Alex shrugged her shoulders.

"Noticed that you weren’t inside anymore, thought that it wouldn’t hurt to check on you." She said and Kelley knew that she was still waiting for Kelley to return her gaze but Kelley wasn’t ready for that yet.

"I’m good there was no need for you to check on me." She replied instead, looking after a car that passed by. 

Alex sighed before she continued to talk.  
"You have a concussion, you shouldn’t be alone. Where is…“

"We broke up." The words tumble from her lips before Kelley even thinks about them and then there’s a brief but awkward silence hanging between them, until Alex finally breaks it. 

"Shit Kel. I’m so sorry, what happened?" Alex sounds genuinely worried now and Kelley almost wants to laugh because this is ridiculous, she doesn’t even feel sad about the break up, she feels much more like an ass for screwing up yet another relationship, one that could’ve worked out perfectly if she weren’t already in love with someone else.  
Of course she couldn’t tell that to Alex so she opted for her usual explanation. 

"I kind of saw it coming, it just wasn’t working out anymore." 

"That’s the exact same thing you said when you and Ann broke up." Alex says frowning and Kelley can’t blame her because Alex can read her like a book and probably knows that she isn’t telling her the entire truth. 

"I guess it’s a pattern for me." She says and Alex raises her eyebrow. 

"I doubt that that’s true." She replies and Kelley shrugs her shoulders. It certainly is a pattern, just not the one she was trying to sell to Alex right now.

When Alex wraps her arm around Kelley, she knows that the forward is going to drop the topic, at least for now. 

Kelley closes her eyes and leans into the embrace, she isn’t sure when she will have the opportunity to be held by Alex like that again. 

Sure, the coming week will be great, victory tour was bound to be busy but at least she gets to spend some time with Alex.  
The part that comes afterwards is what she’s scared of. 

They will both have to go back to their own lives and get to spend a lot less time together.  
The thought hurts Kelley more than she wants to admit, but she’s done it before, there is always a next game, always a next camp and always a next tournament where it will be better again. 

She tries to push the thought that they can’t do this forever, that eventually they will have to retire and that everything is going to change afterwards, into the back of her head but of course Alex notices that something isn’t right.

"What’s on your mind?" She asks voice gentle while she rubs circles with her hand on Kelley’s back.

Kelley feels like she’s going to cry, the thought of losing Alex for good one day becoming imminent.

She knows that Alex will likely have a great and fulfilled life with children and her dog and Servando and she’s happy for her, she truly is because Alex deserves to be happy but Kelley isn’t sure if she will ever be able to find true happiness with someone who isn’t Alex. 

"It’s just a bit much right now." Kelley whispers trying to hold back the tears and failing miserably. 

"Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you." Alex whispers back before she turns so that she can hug Kelley. 

It only makes Kelley cry harder, she’s pretty sure that she’s soaking Alex’s t-shirt but the forward doesn’t seem to care, only squeezing her tighter in an attempt to comfort her. 

Alex has always had a way of calming her down in most cases her presence is enough to make Kelley feel better but right now her embrace feels a bit too much the feeling of her heartbeat makes Kelley’s head spin and she isn’t sure wether she wants to stay in this position forever or if she’d rather run as far away as possible. 

Alex’s voice is soothing though and slowly the tears stop and Kelley is able to breathe normally again, slowly pulling back from the hug. 

"Want to tell me what this was about?" Alex asks and once again Kelley isn’t sure with how much honesty she can reply to the question. 

"I guess I’m starting to realize that we aren’t getting any younger and that we can’t do this forever." Kelley watches as Alex’s smile falters, telling her everything she needs to know. 

She isn’t the only one who has thought about it and Alex is clearly just as displeased with the idea of retiring as Kelley. 

"Is that what’s bothering you? The thought of not being able to play professionally anymore?" Alex asks and Kelley wants to shake her head.

While that is one of her worries the thing that bothers her the most about this is the fear of losing Alex forever. Even if she has to stop playing professionally at some point, there’s always the option of coaching or to continue playing in private, it won’t be the same but it’s at least something. The same can’t be said about her relationship with Alex, because no one can fill that position in her life. Once Alex is gone from her life there is no one who will be able to fill the place that she holds in Kelley’s heart.

"I don’t want to lose you." Kelley whispers and Alex looks at her for a long time before she replies. 

"You won’t." She says it with so much confidence that Kelley wants to believe that it’s true, but if she thinks about this with her head instead of her heart she knows that it can’t be true. 

"Al, come on you know that things are going to change. You’re going to start a family with Servando in L.A. and I will probably be in Atlanta or god knows where. We will both have our own lives, there’s really nothing we can do about it, it will just happen." Alex is frowning at her comment before she shakes her head.

"No, I’m not going to let that happen. You’re staying in my life wether you want to or not." Kelley gives her a pained smile, she wants to believe Alex, she desperately wants it to be true but she just knows that it won’t last forever.

"Besides, who says that I’m going to be in L.A. once I retire?" Alex asks suddenly and Kelley stares at her completely stunned. 

"What do you mean? Isn’t that the obvious choice, it’s where your family is and where Serv is." Kelley says completely confused and Alex smiles. 

"Please, when have I ever settled for the obvious choice?"   
Kelley almost slips up and says that she settled for the obvious choice when she decided to marry Servando, but she knows that that conversation wouldn’t end well, so she doesn’t say anything. 

Alex sighs and reaches for Kelley’s hand who wants to pull away for a second but then doesn’t, the touch too comforting to pull away.

"You know sometimes I just want to run away from all of this. Leave and never look back." Alex says and Kelley laughs at first but stops when she realizes that Alex isn’t laughing.

"You do?" She asks and Alex nods her head slowly. 

"But why, you have everything that you want, don’t you?" Kelley asks studying the look on Alex’s face.

The forward remains silent for a while, like she’s considering what she should say next. 

"I do and I love my life the way it is but sometimes it seems… too constructed, too perfect, I don’t really know this is probably ridiculous." She says with a sigh and Kelley shakes her head.

"No, continue. I’m listening." Alex smiles at her before she nods her head. 

"It’s just that I always planned out my life, I knew what I wanted and how to get there but now that I actually have everything that I dreamed of when I was twelve… it doesn’t feel as good as it should and I’m not sure what it is that’s bothering me. I feel like at some point I did what everyone wanted me to do, what was expected of me and now I’m not sure if I am living my own dream or a version that was laid out for me by the expectations of everyone around me. Take Servando for example, he’s the perfect husband, okay maybe not perfect but pretty close to it. My parents love him and always encouraged our relationship and maybe that’s the reason why I accepted his proposal. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love him but sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision back then, maybe we should’ve waited for a bit longer." Alex sighs once again and Kelley stares at her completely dumbfounded.

She never would’ve thought that Alex was second guessing her decision to marry Servando, of course she was annoyed now and then by the fact that he almost never showed up to her games, but Kelley had always thought that they were genuinely happy with each other. 

"Would you run away with me?" Alex asks suddenly and Kelley stares at her unable to say anything.

Alex stares down at the street in front of them before she pushes herself up, turning to leave when Kelley reaches out, wrapping her hand around Alex’s wrist, blue eyes looking back at her with a questioning look. 

"Of course I would, I’d do anything for you." Kelley says ignoring the slight ache in her heart that the smile on Alex’s face causes her. 

Before she knows it Alex is launching herself into Kelley’s arms, hugging her so tightly that she has trouble breathing but nevertheless it’s a nice feeling.

She doesn’t want the hug to end, but eventually they both pull back, Alex still smiling widely at her. 

"Want to go back to the hotel? I’m kind of tired." Kelley nods her head before she stops.

"What about Serv, I’m sure he would like to stay with you tonight." Alex waves her hand almost dismissively before she replies.  
"He’s a grown man, he can handle himself just fine. He’s taking the next flight home anyways so it’s not like we would get much time together to be honest I was kind of surprised that he showed up at all." Kelley doesn’t question it, the last thing she wants to think about right now is Servando. 

"Do you want me to call us a cab or are we walking?" Kelley asks and Alex smiles at her brightly before she reaches for Kelley’s hand intertwining their fingers.

"I’d love to go on a walk." Alex says and Kelley nods her head taking in the feeling of Alex’s hand in her own.

In that moment when they walk down the street together everything feels right for Kelley, the way Alex holds onto her hand and occasionally bumps into her.

In that moment Kelley really, really wants to run away with Alex.

Later when they’re cuddled together on their hotel bed Kelley whispers the words that she’s been dying to say for years.

"God I’m so in love with you." She thinks that Alex is sleeping, what she doesn’t know is that that’s not the case and that the forward heard every word she said.


	2. Voted Most Likely To Run Away With You

"I’m so in love with you." Simple words that really shouldn’t have been that big of a deal if it hadn’t been for the person who said them. 

Alex still heard those words being spoken, she might’ve pretended that she didn’t hear it but she did and since then she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

It’s been three months, three months in which she tried to decide what to do about it.  
It’s not like she has much of a choice, she’s married and she really shouldn’t be second guessing any of this but she does.

She wonders if she made the wrong decision years ago when she settled for safety, when she settled for Servando and they just got a second dog, she can’t seriously think about leaving him now, but she does.

Of course he has to walk in right in that moment, Blue and Kona following after him happily before they spot Alex and race towards her, tails wagging happily.

Servando smiles at her, smile quickly fading when he notices the look on her face. 

Alex is pretty sure that he has an idea what’s bothering her, things between them have been rocky for quite some time now and as much as they tried to ignore it, it becomes evident in that moment. 

"Who is he?" Servando asks silently and Alex shakes her head. 

"Serv it’s not…" She starts but he interrupts her.

"Don’t try to deny it. I can tell that your heart is somewhere else, it has been for months now. I don’t know when you stopped loving me, but I can tell that it’s the case. I’m not asking you what happened or when, I just want to know who." Alex feels like he deserves the truth but she isn’t sure if he will be able to handle it. 

"Nothing ever happened." Alex says and Servando raises his eyebrow. 

"Not what I was asking. Who is he, Alex?" His voice is a bit sharper than before gaining the attention of both of their dogs who had still been playing with each other a few moments ago.

"Kelley." Alex whispers the words and watches as Servando almost stumbles backwards at her statement. 

He looks like he’s been slapped in the face and shakes his head slowly.  
Alex hates to break his heart like this, but there’s no use in denying it anymore.

She doesn’t know when things changed, isn’t sure when she fell for Kelley but ever since that night where Kelley had whispered that she was in love with her, nothing had been the same for Alex.

"There’s nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?" Servando asked looking at Alex like a lost puppy.

She slowly shakes her head watching his face fall even more.

"So what is it that you want, separation, divorce?" His voice is cold but Alex knows that it’s just his defense mechanism, it’s not like he’s mad at her, he knew that her heart wasn’t in their relationship anymore, he had known for months and maybe that was the reason why he looked almost alright with the situation. 

"I think it would be best to file for divorce. Keeping you around when my heart isn’t in this anymore just isn’t fair to anyone." He nods, obviously hurt by her words but still accepting of her decision. 

"What about the dogs?" He asks and Alex’s heart aches. 

"I think I can’t really give them the stability that they need so I thought you want to keep them? Maybe I can see them now and then if that isn’t too much of a problem for you?"   
Her heart hurts at the thought of having to leave Kona and Blue behind, if she’s being honest it hurts way more than the fact that her marriage fell apart. 

"I was actually thinking about spending next season abroad. I have a few offers that I would be interested in and I know how much you love the two. Maybe they could stay with your family when you’re away at camp and at the Olympics?“

Alex released a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding, nodding her head with a small smile. 

"I’m sure that can be arranged." Servando nodded before he glanced down at the floor. 

"So… when are you flying out to Charlotte?" He asked and Alex looked down at her watch. 

"Still have five hours, but my stuff is already packed so I could leave right now if that’s what you want." He nods and Alex honestly can’t blame him, she gets it and she’s almost thankful that he’s being so calm and collected about all of this. 

"I’d appreciate it if you left now. I can drop the dogs off at your parents’ place." Alex nods and mumbles a silent "Thanks" before she heads upstairs and grabs her suitcase. 

She should be sad, maybe even heartbroken she did love Servando after all but all she can feel is the excitement and slight anxiety about seeing Kelley again.

She isn’t sure what she wants to do yet, Kelley doesn’t know that she knows about her feelings after all and Alex doesn’t want to scare her away.

She knows that Kelley will be waiting at the airport for her, something that she had insisted on despite the fact that her plane would arrive several hours before Alex’s. 

Theoretically it would give them some time on their own before they would meet up with the rest of the team, but Alex isn’t sure if it really is the appropriate time to talk about their feelings. The idea of confessing her feelings in an airport or a cab aren’t exactly exciting so Alex decides that it’s better to wait for the right moment, hoping that she’ll find an opening eventually. 

When she spots Kelley at the airport she almost changes her mind, jumping into the other woman’s arms excitedly, who lifts her up and spins her around while laughing. 

"You have no idea how much I’ve missed you." Alex whispers against Kelley’s neck who squeezes her even tighter as Alex closes her eyes, taking in the feeling. 

"I missed you too. Ready to be the perfect bench warmers and cheerleaders for our team?" Kelley sets her back down onto the ground, eyes sparkling.

They both know that they will have to sit out the game since both of their injuries aren’t healed yet. 

Alex hates to sit on the sidelines but when she has Kelley sitting right by her side the idea of not getting to play suddenly doesn’t sound as bad as it did before.

"Speaking of, how’s your knee?" Kelley asks looking at her worry in her eyes but Alex quickly waves her off, it’s not something that she wants to talk or really think about right now.

She’s sure Kelley feels the same way about her ankle so she doesn’t ask instead opting to sling her arm around Kelley’s waist who seems a bit surprised by the gesture but doesn’t say anything.

They take a cab to the hotel they’re staying in and Alex is nervous, she’s pretty sure that Kelley notices that something is up but she doesn’t say anything about it, giving Alex the opportunity to speak about it on her own terms. 

"So… how are two of my favorite dogs doing?" Kelley asks lying down on the bed next to Alex.

"You haven’t even met Kona yet, how do you know that she’s going to be one of your favorite dogs?" Alex replies laughing, turning to face Kelley who’s smiling. 

"You adopted her which means she’s just as cute as she looks. Serv’s watching over them until you get back to L.A.?" Alex frowns at the mention of Servando’s name and she can see it in the look that Kelley’s throwing her that she noticed.

"They’re with my parents." Alex replies hesitantly and Kelley raises her eyebrow. 

"Oh ok…" Alex knows what she wants to ask and she feels like now might be the right time to tell Kelley.

"There’s something that I need to tell you." She says and Kelley looks at her uncertainly like she’s afraid of what Alex has to say. 

"Remember that night after we won the World Cup and I asked you if you would run away with me?" Alex looks at Kelley who looks a bit pale but nods slowly, mumbling a silent "Of course, how could I forget?“

Alex takes a deep breath before she asks the next question.  
"Would you still do it?" 

Kelley looks at her irritated for a few seconds and then replies.  
"What, run away with you? Of course I would, always. What is this about, Al?" 

"I… I heard what you said later that night." Alex said meeting Kelley’s gaze watching as all color drained from her face. 

"Oh… I… I’m sorry, Al." Kelley has tears in her eyes and looks absolutely crushed, Alex isn’t sure if she has ever seen her like this.

"Don’t be." Alex whispers back scooting a bit closer towards Kelley who’s trying and failing to blink the tears away. 

"I’m screwing everything up, I’m screwing us up." Kelley sobbed quietly and Alex shook her head quickly before she reached out, letting her hand rest against Kelley’s cheek gently. 

"You’re not screwing anything up, I’m the one who should be sorry for making you wait for such a long time." Kelley blinks and looks at Alex irritated, who has a soft smile playing around her lips. 

"What are you saying?" Kelley asks between two sobs, the smile on Alex’s face brightening. 

"That I would run away with you too… and that I might be a little bit in love with you as well." Alex felt pretty confident finally telling Kelley how she felt but when Kelley didn’t reply she felt her confidence wavering, because what if it was too late? What if she waited for too long?

"You… are?" Kelley finally asked a small smile slowly building up.   
Alex just nodded her head, unable to say anything in the moment as she was way too distracted by the almost golden glimmer in Kelley’s eyes. 

"What about…" Kelley started to ask but Alex quickly stopped her.

"What do you think why the dogs are at my parents’ place?" Kelley bit her lip hesitantly looking like she wanted to say something but once again Alex was faster. 

"I know that look on your face, stop blaming yourself for the end of my marriage, please? This was my decision, it probably would’ve happened sooner or later. Could we maybe focus on us now, what do you think about this?" Alex gently gestured between them with her hand and Kelley pushed herself up into a sitting position, Alex following after her swiftly. 

"You’re really being serious about this?" Alex nodded her head, reaching for Kelley’s hands who looked down at their now intertwined hands. 

"Of course I am. I would never joke about something like this. I want to be with you, in whatever capacity you want us to be." Alex’s heart was racing as she looked at Kelley, waiting for her to say something. 

"Right now I really just want to kiss you." Kelley said leaning a bit towards Alex smirking a little bit.

"I think that sounds like a very promising start to something great." Alex replied right before Kelley closed the space in between them.

Kissing Kelley felt right and Alex was almost disappointed when she pulled back after a while, the smile on her face made up for it though. 

"Yeah I think you might be onto something here." Kelley said and Alex slapped her shoulder lightly before she leaned against the defender. 

"I should’ve done that a lot sooner." She said and Kelley chuckled.

"Can’t say I disagree. What counts is that you did though." She gave Alex a light kiss onto her head who smiled happily. 

"Well now we can really start thinking about our runaway plan." Kelley laughed at that and Alex felt how she shook her head slowly.

"You’re such a dork sometimes." 

"You love me for it though, don’t you?" Alex asked.

"Always." Kelley replied leaning in for another kiss.


End file.
